Love You Hate You
by OrigamiGirl
Summary: Sasuke/Sakura - 'Uchiha Sasuke's fate was decided today.'
1. To See You Again

**Author's Note: **Hi there! So this is my new story. I got the idea for it while I was just sitting in the car waiting for my mom to come out of the bank. Kind of a weird way to come up with it but yeah...Anyways, I hope you like it. It took me forever to write since the first time, I accidenlty deleated it. I pissed meself off so much, but here it is.

For their age in this fic, I think around 22 is good. Also Itachi is still alive!

By the way, Naruto does not belong to me (of course!)

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**Chapter One  
To See You Again**

Sakura stood in front of the Hokage's desk by herself, waiting for she didn't know what.

"Do you know why have you been called here?" Tsunade asked her, watching her apprentice carefully. .

"No."

After a moment of silence, the blonde woman told her. "Uchiha Sasuke's fate was decided today. He is to be executed since he is as too big a threat to Konoha."

Sakura clenched her hands into fists at her side but kept her face emotionless. So many emotions were rushing over her, that is was almost too much. "Is there anything else?" she asked Tsunade, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible.

"No," the Hokage answered, "You can be excused."

She nodded and left without another word. After she was out of the building she ran all the way home. Tsunade stood at the window next to her desk, watching her go.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sakura sank deeper into the warm water of the bath that she was taking, trying to sort out all her thoughts that were running fast through her mind.

"Uchiha Sasuke's fate was decided today. He is to be executed since he is as too big a threat to Konoha."

Those two sentences kept repeating over and over in her mind, driving her crazy. No matter how much she tried to think of something else, it was still there, like someone was pressing a replay button.

Annoyed with herself, she held her breath and closed her eyes, immersing herself completely in the water.

She hadn't gone to see Sasuke once since he had been forcefully taken back to Konoha. It had taken over fifteen people, including Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi to bring him down and even then, it had been a stroke of luck. That had been a little over two months ago, and now it was decided he was going to be executed.

'You don't care at all,' she told herself. 'He betrayed you and everyone else that cared about him.'

She felt her lungs started to burn, and the want for air was strong, but she still stayed under.

'Why should I give a damn about someone like that?'

Finally, she couldn't help it. She came up, gasping for breath and sending water splashing over the sides of the tub, but she didn't care. Standing up, she stepped out of the tub reaching for a towel to dry off. She didn't even bother to drain the water before she walked out of the room to get changed.

She was going to go see him even though she knew that she shouldn't.

'Just one more time,' she thought. 'Just one last time.'

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sakura walked quickly across the bridge that had been lowered for her towards the prison. This wasn't new for her. She'd been there countless times; sometimes with Tsunade and other times by herself. There were always special cases when one of the prisoner's chakra needed to be drained on a regular basis since they were too dangerous with it. She knew Sasuke was one of those cases but it had been Tsunade and Shizune who had been taking care of it, not her.

"Sakura-san!" the guard exclaimed when he saw her, smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"Open the door please," she requested, not wanting to bother with pleasantries.

The guard looked uncertain but nodded and did as told. "But I don't think that-

"I'll only be a few minutes," Sakura cut him off, before walking in and pulling the door shut behind her. She knew he wouldn't stop her. She was the 5th's apprentice so he wouldn't even dare to try.

She walked down the steep stairs, trying not to trip because of how dim the lighting was. There were no windows down here, the only lighting coming from small torches placed along the wall about every ten feet. The place was also filthy with rats running everywhere and it was no wonder why the place stunk so much. Sakura had to try really hard no to gag.

This place was where they kept the most dangerous people and if there was one thing that Sakura knew, it was that Sasuke was exactly that.

'It's where he belongs,' Sakura thought, moving down the hall to look into each cell, trying to find his. One of prisoners whistled at her as she walked by causing her to shoot him a glare.

She found Sasuke in the last cell in the hall. He was standing in the middle of it, his back facing her and starring at the wall. She watched him for a few seconds before opening her mouth to speak but Sasuke beat her to it.

"And what do I owe this visit, Sakura?" she heard him ask, without him turning around.

The way he said her name was like it was the most disgusting thing in the world to him, but she told herself that she didn't care.

'You have no control over me anymore. Nothing that you say or do will affect me.'

"Hello Sasuke," she said.

* * *

There a little bit of a cliffie for ya. So is it good? Bad? I'm not sure if I should continue it so please tell me if I should! or not!

If I do continue, the next chapter will be longer. I was just in a bit of a rush today! Sorry!


	2. Into The Darkness

**Author's Note: **Hi again! Thanks to all of those who reviewed the last chapter and asked me to continue! I'm glad that you liked it! I think this story is a lot of fun to write so I am going to continue it. Anyways, here's chapter two! I worked really hard on it so I hope that you like it!

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**Chapter Two  
Into The Dark**

"Hello Sasuke," Sakura greeted her voice strong. Not knowing exactly what to say after that, she fell into an awkward silence.

'Maybe this was a mistake,' she thought, looking down at her feet starting to feel uncomfortable. 'I shouldn't have come.'

"Is 'hello' all you came to say?" she heard Sasuke ask, snapping her out of her thoughts. She glanced back up at him and saw that he was still facing away from her, continuing to stare at the opposite wall instead.

Unconsciously, she moved towards the cell's bars, wanting to see more of him.

"Do you know about your sentence?" she inquired quietly. "That you are to be executed."

"How dull," Sasuke sighed. "I already know."

Sakura felt a little bit of anger flare alive in her with his last comment about her bring boring and it wasn't helping any that he was still facing away form her. "I may be boring but is that wall so much more interesting than me?" she snapped out.

He turned to face her then and she had to try hard not to let out a gasp. His eyes looked absolutely menacing, like he would love to be on the side of bars that she was on just so he could snap her and break her in two.

She didn't let that stop her though. She couldn't.

'This isn't the boy that you once knew,' she had to remind herself. 'That boy is dead and replaced by this dangerous one standing before you. He might have once used to protect you from being hurt by others but now he wouldn't hesitate to kill you himself. Don't trust him at all. Don't let him get under your skin.'

Even though she told herself that, she couldn't look him in the eyes. Instead, she decided to focus on his cell. She didn't understand how people could live in it. It was disgusting as far from she could see. The only thing in it was a bed that had ripped sheets and had probably never been washed once in their life. The floor seemed cleaner in her opinion then the actual bed.

"Like my accommodations?" Sasuke scoffed, noticing the disgusted look on her face.

She looked back at him, finally daring to meet his eyes again. "I think it's perfect for someone like you."

He studied her for a moment before saying, "You've changed."

Now it was Sakura's turn to scoff. "What?" Did you think that I'd be that silly little weak and hopeless girl who chased after you? After all that you've done, of course I've changed. You have no affect on me anymore and you don't scare me."

"Such boring talk," was all Sasuke said to her small outburst as he leaned against the wall looking uninterested.

The way that he was acting made her feel inferior to him and it pissed her off even more.

"You're such an asshole!" she screamed. "You have no right to act like you're above me! Someone rotting in such a disgusting place like this isn't allowed that right."

All the anger and hatred against him that she had been holding inside of her had started to leak out and she was no where near done with him.

"You're not even stronger than Naruto," she taunted. "He brought you down and dragged your sorry ass back here. Face it! You're the weak one. So don't you-

Suddenly, his hand snapped out through the bars faster than she could see and she felt his fingers wrap around her neck squeezing slightly. He brought her even closer to the bars and he himself leaned closer to her.

"Even behind these bars I can kill you," he whispered threateningly to her. "Remember that."

With that, he pushed her away sending her stumbling back and coughing for air. She looked up at him to see that he was back to leaning against the wall, like nothing had just happened between them, only now, he was slightly smirking.

Sakura had to suppress a slight shiver that tried to run up her spine and she made sure this time, to stand out of his reaching distance, not wanting to repeat what had just transpired. If it did, she knew that Sasuke would probably not let go and would just kill her. She traced her neck where he had held her, slight bruises already starting to form there in the shapes of fingers.

'Idiot!' she screamed at herself in her mind. 'You should of known better than to stand so close and even more, you let him touch you. After all of your training, you should know better than this. Coming here was a mistake. '

"I'm going," she told him, suddenly wanting to be as far away from and the cursed prison. "This will be the last time that you ever see me. I just wanted to say goodbye."

She turned away from him and started for the exit.

"How strange," she heard Sasuke say when she was about ten feet away and she stopped in her tracks to glance back at him.

When he didn't elaborate on what was strange she could resist asking, "What's so strange?"

"You say that I have no affect on you yet you still came to see me."

She froze at those words, knowing that he was right, but not wanting to believe it.

"Aren't you leaving?" Sasuke asked, turning away from her.

"Fuck you!" Sakura yelled before starting to run down the hall. The same man from one of the cells whistled at her again but this time, she didn't shoot him a glare since she was too much in a hurry to get out of there. She took the stairs two at a time and didn't even bother to slow down after she pushed the door open to see the guard from before still standing there. He started to ask her what was wrong, was already gone, not wanting to deal with him.

She didn't want to stop running until she was home, far away from Sasuke, the boy who no matter how much she worked and tried to deny it was still her one weakness.

x - x – x – x – x –

Sakura sat on her bed in her pajamas, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her head on top of them. The day that she had been having seemed like the longest one in her life and her only wish right now was that it would end as soon as possible. She found that her wish wouldn't be fulfilled as the phone on the desk next to her bed started to ring. Sighing, she reached out and snatched it up.

"Hello?"

"Sakura-san! Is that you?" asked a frantic voice that she instantly recognized as Shizune's. That wasn't the only thing she could hear. In the background, the sound of people shouting and banging things was all around.

"Yes, it's me. What's wrong?"

She'd never heard Shizune sound so distressed before and it was starting to even unsettle her a bit.

"It's Uchiha Sasuke," she heard Shizune say. "He's escaped."

"What!?" Sakura jumped out of her bed, holding the phone as it could get to her ear. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What do you mean he's escaped?"

"We found a hole blown through the wall of his cell and all of the guards who were watching him were killed."

"H-How is this possible?" Sakura choked out. The thing was that is wasn't. Sasuke had had absolutely no chakra in his system and since he was a high risk criminal, there were top ninjas posted as guards 24/7 to watch him. Nothing like this had ever happened before. "How could he of escaped?"

"I don't know but it's worse than that. Uchiha Itachi has been-

Suddenly the phone went dead in her hand and the lights above her shut off with a slight popping noise.

"Hello?" Sakura asked into the phone. "Hello?"

There was no response.

Slamming down her phone, she walked over to the window to peer out, wondering if it was a blackout, but she could see all the other buildings that lined the street had their lights one. It was just her place which meant something was definitely wrong. A banging noise from outside her bedroom door in the hallway caused her to run over to her bed and snatch the kunai knife she always had hidden there in case of emergences. Another banging noise came, this time louder and closer to her door.

There was someone in her apartment and she had a pretty good idea who.

It was him. It was Sasuke.

She figured he'd probably come to finish her off because of before.

She listened hard but there were no more banging noises. The only thing that she could hear was the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears, but she knew better than to let her guard down. Just because the noises stopped didn't meant the person still wasn't there.

She walked quietly over to her bedroom door, taking a deep calming breath and readying herself to attack anyone if it came to that before swinging the door wide open to find no one there. .

Slowly, she stepped out of her room, walking towards the nearest door in the hall which led to a closet. She swung the door wide open but once again, it was empty. She repeated the process, opening all the doors along the hall expecting to see Sasuke hiding there but never finding anybody.

She tightened her grip on her kunai, wanting to know what the hell was going in her apartment. It was like the power going out and the banging noises had been done by a ghost, but she knew that if Sasuke could escape from the prison, he could easily hide in her house, just waiting to attack her.

"Come on out Sasuke," she shouted. "I know you're here."

She held her breath, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did.

Leaving the hallway, she walked into her kitchen checking to see if he was in there. He wasn't. The only thing that she saw out of the ordinary was that the window above the sink was open.

She stared at it, her heart starting to pound even more. She was so sure it hadn't been that way when she had gone into her room. In fact, all the time she lived in the apartment, she never had bothered to open that window once.

Walking over to investigate it, she shut it tight and locked it.

"You shouldn't let your guard down," a deep voice said from behind her, but before she had a chance to react, she felt someone hit her pressure point in the back of her neck, knocking her out and sending her into darkness.

Another cliffie for ya. So who do you think knocked out Sakura?? Thanks for reading! Please review!

Oh! And also, for any Izumo and Kotestu fans out there, the gaurds at the prison who were killed were not them. I know that sometimes they are at the prison cause they're shown there in one of the filler episodes there but I think that those two guys are too cool to kill off.


	3. Captive

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Author's Note:

Hi there! Here's chapter three. I'm really thankful to all of the people who reviewed! Hugs for all of you! Please keep them coming. So about this chapter...it's kind of intense in my opinion. Actually, after I wrote it, I couldn't believe that I did, but I think it's pretty good! This story is REALLY different then my Date Night (which by the way I will update soon!). I feel like this one is so sad, but I love writing it for some reason. Anyways, I worked seriously hard on this chapter and please enjoy!

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**Chapter Three  
****Captive  
**

Sakura's eyes slowly fluttered open to see white. Everything around her was white. The walls. The floors. It was all white.

Sitting up, she let out a tiny groan. Her whole body ached and she felt like her head was splitting in two, a pounding headache the cause. It wasn't helping any that the floor that she had been passed out on was as hard as rock.

'What happened?' she thought, looking around at the mysterious room she was in. 'Where the hell am I?'

She wondered if she'd gotten drunk again last night. She'd only tried drinking once in her life time and that had been on her twenty-first birthday. It hadn't been a pretty sight. She'd gotten so drunk that she had started dancing on tables and hitting on random guys. Naruto along with Sai ended up having to literally drag her out of the bar. If it hadn't of been for them, who knows what would have happened. The next morning, she'd woken up with the worst headache ever and spent the whole day in bed. After that, she'd given up on drinking, not wanting to repeat the situation, but how she was feeling at the moment, she wondered if she'd given up on that promise.

'What did I do yesterday?' she thought, lightly massaging her temples. Going to see Sasuke was the first thing that came back to her which was followed by the phone call about him escaping. 'I thought he was in my house,' she remembered. 'I was knocked out in the kitchen.'

She instantly froze and peered around the room, expecting to see Sasuke sitting in the corner watching her, but she found that she was all alone. In fact, she was the only thing in the room. The walls were bare with no doors or windows in sight. How she even got into the room in the first place was a mystery to her.

'Sasuke must have dumped me here and left for a bit,' she figured. 'I'm lucky he's not here. There's a chance of escape now.'

Pushing herself up, she walked over to a random wall, looking for some kind of opening. She knew that even if she couldn't see any type of door or window, there had to be something. A human just couldn't walk through a wall. It was impossible.

Reaching out, she touched the wall slightly and was surprised when the wall shocked her, causing her to pull her hand back quickly.

It was obvious that this wasn't any ordinary room.

She tried to summon chakra to her fist to see if she could break it but found that she had none. 'Probably Sasuke's doing,' she thought.

Walking over to the wall adjacent to the one that she had touched, she reached out and put her palm flat against it to test if all the walls were the same. This time, there was a small blue light and another shock that was stronger than the last, causing her stumble back and fall.

Hissing in the pain, she sat back up and clutched her arm to her where burn marks could be seen. She didn't even have any chakra to heal it.

Looking back up at the wall it became evident what the room she was in was meant for.

To keep a captive.

There was nothing she could do but wait for Sasuke to come back and she knew when he did, he'd probably kill her. Her situation was hopeless.

'Will it hurt to die?' she wondered. 'How will he kill me? Will he kill me quick or enjoy taking his time? Will he laugh at me while he's doing it?'

All those thoughts ran through Sakura's head, making her feel sick to her stomach.

"What are you doing," came a cold voice behind her.

She hadn't heard anyone enter and she was certain there had been no one in the room with her. She whipped around to see who it was and for a moment, she was so sure it was Sasuke. He and the man who stood before her looked so much alike but she could notices differences. The black coat he was wearing with red clouds printed on it was one.

The person in front of her wasn't Sasuke. It was Itachi.

Her mouth dropped open in shock. "How…" she started, not exactly sure what to say. "…What-

"Haruno Sakura," he cut her off. "You are in an Akatsuki base."

She could only manage to say one word. "Why?"

"To get to the nine tails," he answered,

It was a trap and she was the bait.

"I'm not going to help you," she told him defiantly, gaining some of her courage back. "I won't let you get to Naruto!"

"You have no choice in the matter."

"I refuse to help you!"

Itachi stared at her for a moment and she felt a slight shiver run down her spine, but she didn't let it show on her face.

"I brought you food," he told her. She hadn't even seen him holding a tray but there it was. He put it down on the ground. "I'll be back soon."

With that, he turned and left through a door that appeared for him and vanished after he closed it.

'So that's how it works,' she thought.

x – x – x – x – x

Sakura sat in the middle of the room, starring at the wall where the door had been. She'd been like that for a while now, trying to figure if there was anyway to make it reappear. The only way was she figured was that a person had to make certain hand signs but without knowing them, there was absolutely no chance of getting out.

She'd been starring at it so long that an outline of a door had started to appear. She rubbed her eyes before looking at it again to see that she wasn't imagining it. The door was really there and the handle was turning. It opened revealing Itachi.

Stepping in, he looked at the food he had left for her and that she'd left untouched right where he'd put it.

"You haven't eaten," he stated. "Why?"

He looked right back at her when he asked the question, his gaze making chills run up her spine. It sickened her how much he and Sasuke looked alike and she had to fight not look away.

"I'm not going to eat anything you give me," she told him. "I'm not going to help you get to Naruto! I'd rather starve to death."

"A dead captive is no good to me."

"Exactly." she said, her voice bouncing of the walls of the room.

Closing his eyes, Itachi sighed. "How bothersome," she heard him say before he reopened them. She could see that his sharingan was different from before and she found that she couldn't move. She knew what was happening. She was falling into an illusion.

Opening her eyes, she could see that she was back in Konoha but it was different; not the Konoha she knew and loved. High above her, the sky was dark with a red eerie moon hanging there. Screams were coming from people all around her. They were pushing past her and running from something that was up the street.

All she could see at first was a shadow but when the moonlight caught it, she felt her heart miss a beat. It was Sasuke and he was covered in blood with bodies scattered around him. To her horror, she recognized Naruto among them. He wasn't the only one either.

Ino. Kakashi. Lee. They were all there laying at his feet dead.

She watched as Sasuke stabbed a woman who had been trying to run from him through the chest. The woman began to let out terrible screams as she slid to the ground, her life leaving her.

Sakura fell to her knees and covered her mouth. A sour feeling had started in her stomach and she felt like vomiting, but she kept somehow managed to keep it down.

'It's just an illusion,' she told herself while covering her ears, not wanting to hear all the screams. 'None of this is real! Sasuke's really not doing this!' This really isn't happening!'

Even though she told herself that, it didn't help as she saw another victim fall to Sasuke.

Sasuke turned then, looking for another person to kill. A little girl who had been trying to get away had tripped and fallen about ten feet in front of him and he started for her. He picked her up by her shirt collar until her feet were several inches off the ground and tears were starting to run down her face.

"Stop it!" Sakura screamed, not able to just watch any more. She got to her feet and ran towards him. "Leave her alone! She's just a little girl."

All her yelling caught Sasuke's attention and he turned towards her. Sakura could now see that he was now holding his katana at the girl's throat threateningly.

"Let her go!" she demanded.

Sasuke smirked at her before doing the exact opposite of what she wanted and slit the girl's throat. She fell to the ground, becoming yet another person to fall to him.

Chuckling at her disgusted reaction, Sasuke started towards Sakura next, murderous intent showing in his eyes.

"Your turn," she heard him say before she turned and ran for it.

Peeking over her shoulder, she looked to if he'd followed her and saw that to her relief, she couldn't see him anywhere. She rounded a corner and came to a halt when she saw Sasuke was standing there, blocking off her path. The same smirk he had been wearing earlier was still plastered on his face.

"Got you," he said.

There was no running away from him. Wherever she went, he would always find her. It was like they were playing a game of cat and mouse. She was the mouse and he was the cat who could kill her anytime but had more fun playing with his food. He wanted to see her break.

'It's just an illusion,' she reminded herself. 'None of this is real!'

Sasuke took a step towards her, his katana catching the moonlight and making it look even more menacing. Backing up, Sakura got ready to start running in the direction she had just come from, but before she could even turn around, Sasuke was there, gripping her wrist so she couldn't get away. She felt his katana enter her abdomen and she let out a piercing scream at the feel of the cold metal inside of her.

'It's not real,' she thought faintly. 'This isn't really happening.'

Though she told herself that, it didn't take any of the pain away. Instead, Sasuke twisted his sword in her, making it hurt worse. Moaning, she fell down to the ground and looked up at him. A twisted smile was on his lips, like he was enjoying all of what he was doing to her.

His face began to flicker suddenly as did her surroundings. The illusion was disappearing and the room back in the Akatsuki base was taking its place. She found herself on the ground, clutching her stomach with tears streaming down her cheeks, the illusion weighing on her heavily.

"Maybe next time, you'll eat," she heard Itachi say before he left through the door.

It vanished once again behind him, leaving her all alone to cry.

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This chapter even gives me the creeps! Thanks for reading and please review!

Sorry! Sadly there really isn't any Sasuke in this chapter. And also, this is not an ItaSau fic but there might be some hints. I don't really support that pairing but it's okay. SasuSaku is a million times better though!


	4. The Escape

**Author's Note: **Hello again! Here's chapter four! I just love writing this story since it's so much fun! I want to thank real quick all the people who are reading my story and especially the people who are reviewing! Hugs for all of you! Enjoy!

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**Chapter Four  
****The Escape**

Sakura laid on her back in the middle of the white room that she was pretty sure was hell on earth, at least for her anyways.

She'd been in the Akatsuki base for what seemed like ever to her when in fact, it had only been about a week and a half. In that short amount of time though, dark bags had formed under her eyes and her body had began to lose weight due to her not eating. Because of her refusal to eat, she'd been tortured so many times by Itachi with Tuskiyomi that she'd lost count a while back.

She didn't know if she could keep going with being a captive of the Akatsuki, but what she did know was that if the torturing were to keep up, that her mind would start to fray if it already hadn't began to.

She had to escape and fast, but she still had no ideas of how.

The only time when she was allowed out of the room was when she had to go to the bathroom and even then, she was blindfolded and handcuffed before she could leave the room. So, even if she could somehow manage to get out of the room that she was trapped in, she wouldn't have any knowledge of the building which would probably just lead to her getting captured again then more torture.

A familiar rumbling sound started up, interrupting her planning and she sat up to see that the door was starting to appear again.

'Probably the bastard coming back to bring me food,' she figured, bracing herself for Itachi to be the one enter, but was surprised when she saw it wasn't him.

Instead, in his place was a big middle-aged man she'd never seen before with a wicked scar that ran from his left eye to his chin. He had the look of someone that you obviously didn't want to mess with unless you wanted to pay badly for it. Looking down at her with obvious disgust in his eyes, he sneered, "I was asked to deliver this to you today since Itachi couldn't."

He dropped the tray carelessly, causing the food to splatter all over the floor. Not that Sakura cared much anyways. It wasn't like she would have actually eaten it. The man on the other hand though seemed to think that she'd mind and he waited for her to say something, like maybe to tell him just so he'd have a reason to hit her. When she kept her silence, she saw the disappointment flash in his eyes.

"Piece of trash," he spit at her and Sakura had to bite her tongue to resist to tell him that between them, he was the one who was trash.

Walking back over to the wall with the door, the man looked over his shoulder to make sure that Sakura wasn't watching. That was when it came to her. This was her one chance of escape. She feigned interest in the spilt food, trying to make it look like she couldn't care less about what he was up to. Satisfied, the man looked forward and started to make hand signs and Sakura caught everyone out of the corner of her eyes. A small smile lit up her lips as the man disappeared, leaving her all alone again.

Standing up, Sakura began to count to herself.

_'1…2…3…4…'_

She couldn't have that man be anywhere near the door when she tried to escape.

_'...45…46…'_

When she'd get out, she'd look for an exit fast. If Itachi hadn't come, that meant there was a chance that he wasn't in the building which made her chance of escaping better.

_'99…100.'_

Figuring she'd waited long enough, she walked over to the wall. Putting her hands together, she quickly repeated the hand signs she'd just seen and smirked when the door appeared.

That man really was trash if he was dumb enough to let a captive see how to escape.

She opened the door quietly and peeked out. Seeing no one, she stepped out to find that she was at the end of a hallway with only one way to go and she started down it. It led to another hall where she could go two ways, right or left. Looking down one way, she saw nothing, but on the other, there were two men heading her way. They hadn't spotted her, at least not yet and she quickly ducked back into the original hall before they could. She pressed herself up against the wall, trying to hide as best she could in the shadows.

'_Please go straight!'_ she prayed. '_Please don't turn into this hall and come this way!'_

She would be sunk if they found her.

The men's voices came closer and she and the sound of her heartbeat escalated in her ears.

_'Please!'_

They were walking past her now, too busy talking to even look her way. Sakura only dared to let out a breath that she hadn't even noticed she'd been holding until they passed. She listened as the men's voices grew distant as they began down the hall away from her. She was lucky this time but if something like this happened again, it could be bad.

She had to find a way out.

She ran opposite the way the men had gone down the hallway which led to another and another. The place was like a never ending maze, and she knew that she was sure to get caught if she was going to keep running around like she had been. That was when she saw it. A small fraction of light spilling into the hall from a window. In other words, a perfect way out.

Running over to it, she saw that the window was rusted shut from disuse but she grabbed it and began to try to pry it open with all her might. She felt the metal start to dig into her skin, cutting it and causing blood to run down her arms, but she didn't stop. In her opinion, it was a small price to pay for an escape.

After a couple of seconds of trying, a low creaking noise sounded and the window slowly began to slide up until it was fully open. Poking her head out, she looked down to see that she was at least fifteen feet above the ground. Being in captivity had done nothing for her form and on top of that, having no chakra would make the jump risky for her but she lifted one of her legs up over the ceil which was soon followed by the other one until she was sitting on the window with her legs dangling over on the outside. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself off and plunged to the ground.

She landed awkwardly on her feet causing her to stumble forward and fall to her knees. Instantly, she knew she'd done something to her right ankle since she felt it start to throb painfully, but she pushed herself up anyways, wincing a bit at the feeling of weight on her injured foot. She couldn't stop though. Somebody could have already discovered her missing.

She had to hurry.

Picking a random direction, she started limping away. She didn't care which way it would lead her but as long as it was away from Itachi and the Akatsuki, it was good enough for her. Eventually, she would have to come across a town or someone who could help her. Finally she would be safe.

Every step Sakura took was a painful one and she had to bite her lip several times to stop herself from crying out. After about the fifth time of doing it, the coppery taste of blood from cuts her teeth had caused could be tasted on her tongue. She kept on going though until she was a little more than a mile away when she had to lean against a tree to stop herself from collapsing. If she fell, she knew that there was a big chance that she might not be able to get back up.

"Come on," she told herself through gritted teeth. "You have to keep on going!"

She pushed herself off from the tree and tried to try to walk, but only ended up to having to grab it again for support.

"Just give up." she heard a cold voice say.

Sakura froze, her breath catching in her throat. She knew that voice. It was the one that had started to haunt her dreams for the last couple nights. Sure enough when she turned, there Itachi was, watching her. How long he'd been standing there, she didn't know but since she'd not heard him come he could have been observing her the whole time.

All her effort to get away was worthless now. She was caught.

Slowly, she tried backing away from him, refusing to go down with out a fight. To her horror though, he disappeared right in front of her eyes. Her head whipped in all directions, trying to find any hint as to where the Uchiha could be.

"Running is useless," she heard him whisper in her ear and she turned around to see no one.

She knew it then that he was toying with her, wanting to see her suffer more.

Suddenly, he was right in front of her and before she could even react, his hands were wrapping around her throat. She was pushed up against a tree and she let out a small cry as she felt the bark dig into her back through her shirt, slicing her skin open. He lifted her up by her neck so that her feet were dangling several inches off the ground. Struggling, to get free, Sakura clawed at his hands and arms but it only caused him to squeeze harder. Slowly, she felt herself start to feel dizzy and the world around her started to blur. She knew then that he was going kill her or try to get her as close as possible to the brink of death since he still needed her as the bait to attract Naruto.

She'd almost lost conciousness when his hands suddenly released her and she fell to the ground, gasping for air.

"Go away," she heard Itachi say and she looked up in confusion, wondering what he meant but then she saw that he wasn't talking to her or even looking her way. Instead, he was focusing on someone behind him and she peered around, curious to see who'd walked in on them.

"…S-Sasuke?" she whispered out, not believing her eyes.

"I don't have time for you." Itachi told him.

The younger Uchiha brother glared as he said, "You'll make time."

* * *

I know this is evil but I give you a cliffie! Thanks for reading and please review!


	5. Between Brothers

**Author's Note: **Hi there guys! Here's chapter five! This took me a long time to write cause I wanted to get the fight scene just right. Thanks to all of those who've been reviewing! You guys rock!! Enjoy!

And also, I want to say this real quick cause people have been asking. This is a SasuSaku fic and it maybe might have hints of other pairings.

* * *

**Chapter Five  
Stuck In The Middle Of A Brother's Fight**

"S-Sasuke…" Sakura whispered out, staring in shock at the younger Uchiha. "What…Why are you-

"Go away," Itachi said, cutting Sakura off mid sentence. "I don't have time for you at the moment."

"Well, you'll just have to make time," Sasuke responded while unsheathing his katana to show that he wasn't going anywhere soon with out a good fight first.

Sakura blinked, trying to figure out why the young Uchiha was there. Had he come to save her? Was that possible?

No.

Sakura was pretty sure that hell would have to freeze over (and twice) before Sasuke would be there for her. The boy hadn't even glanced her way once since his arrival which fueled Sakura's reasoning even more. He didn't care about her. He was there for one reason and one reason only. His brother.

'_Of course_,' Sakura thought bitterly. '_He's always been like that_.'

Using the tree behind her that she'd earlier been thrown against by Itachi for support, she managed to pull herself up to her feet, trying not to wince at the slight pain that shot up her leg from her injured ankle. She knew she couldn't stay there and Sasuke wasn't going to offer any help with escaping so she was on her own once again. The only problem was that before, she'd only been dealing with one Uchiha. Now she had two on her hands which meant that her situation had just escalated from plain dangerous to complete insanity.

She had to get out of there and quick.

Discreetly, Sakura tried to move behind the tree without attracting any attention from the men that were sharring her company. She was unsuccessful in her attempt.

"Where do you think you're going?" Itachi asked, sending her a cold glare and she froze in her steps.

"You should ignore her right now," Sasuke yelled at his brother. "I'm the only one you should be concerned with right now."

"Didn't I tell you to go away?" Itachi sighed, looking back at his opponent. "I see that you're just as stubborn as always."

Sakura watched as Itachi's hands flew up and he started to make hand signs faster than her eyes could see. Opening his mouth, the older Uchiha released one of the biggest fire attacks that she'd ever seen towards Sasuke. Both Itachi and Sakura watched as the flames licked at the scenery in front of them, burning anything and everything. From where she stood, Sakura could feel the intense heat of the flames and she knew that if Sasuke had been hit by his brother's attack, there was no way that he'd be alive now. Slowly, the flames died down and she could see that the surrounding trees were black from burns and that the grass was dead. There was something missing though.

Sasuke.

He was no where in sight.

"What a nuisance" Itachi said, notching the same.

Sakura looked in all directions for the boy, trying to find any trace as to where he could be. Above her, she didn't see the single leaf fall from a branch, slowly fluttering to the ground. Itachi though, did. Turning, he unleashed several kunai knives towards then tree's higher branches knowing that that was where his little brother was hiding. Sure enough, Sasuke flew out from his hiding place, reflecting off all the weapons aimed at him with his sword. He landed firmly on his feet in front of Sakura, separating her from Itachi. Sakura heard the familiar sound of birds chirping start up and a blue light began to glow.

Chidori.

Sasuke was going to use Chidori.

Knowing nothing good of it, the pink haired girl crouched down into a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible and put her hands up over head like some sort of shield. The last thing that she wanted was to be hit. After a few crashing noises, the chirping died down and only then did Sakura dare to look up to see what had happened.

Sasuke had missed his target. His victim instead being a poor unsuspecting tree which was now uprooted and laying on its side. It had been quickly forgotten as both brothers were now both locked in a close combat fight with each other, trying to aim hits here and there.

Sasuke swung at his brother with his katana, managing to slice his chest but only ripping the Akatsuki cloak. Nothing else. Itachi in turn grabbed Sasuke's sword hand, making him drop the weapon and the older Uchiha kicked the weapon away.It landed a few feet in front of Sakura who stared at it hard as the brothers continued their fight. '

She could pick it up right now. Try to help Sasuke in the fight and then maybe he'd win.

But she also had another choice.

That other choice was running. She could run for it now and escape. Itachi was too preoccupied with his brother at the moment so she was sure that he wouldn't notice her disappearance until she was a good distance away. She'd be free from him and the Akatsuki. Free to go home and back to Konoha.

But…could she really leave Sasuke like that though? He could die.

She glanced up at the younger Uchiha just in time to see him receive a nasty cut that ran from his ear to the middle of his cheek. A gift from his brother.

Sakura made her choice then.

Reaching out, she picked up the katana and clambered to her feet. She limped as fast as she could towards Itachi, preparing to strike. The older Uchiha saw her coming out of the corner of his eye and kicked his little brother in the stomach, making Sasuke stumble back. Quickly, Itachi made more hand signs and emitted another fire ball attack toward Sasuke. Then he turned just in time as Sakura was bringing the sword down for a hit and he caught her wrist in his solid grip, stopping her weak attack in midair. With his other hand, he easily tore the sword from her hands, turning it on her instead.

"You've been more trouble to me then you're actually worth," he told her with a glare. "Too much trouble in my opinion."

He brought the weapon back like he was going to impale her and Sakura shut her eyes tight, waiting for what she was sure was the end. Only, instead of feeling the cold metal of the sword, she felt someone give her a hard push. She landed on her side against the ground with a grunt and opened her eyes just in time to see crimson blood spill as Sasuke was stabbed with his own katana. It entered his right shoulder, exiting out his back and for a second, Sakura was sure that world stopped as she stared in horror and disbelief at the scene before her.

Just now…Uchiha Sasuke, the boy who claimed to hate her had just saved her.

She watched as Sasuke fell down to his knees and she could stop herself from shouting out his name.

The boy's bangs blocked out his eyes so she couldn't see them from her view but she heard him whisper two words through gritted teeth.

"Annoying girl."

Itachi pulled the katana out then, making Sasuke grunt at the action and caused more blood to spill. "Foolish move to save the girl," he told his little brother, dropping the weapon in front of him. "It shows that you still don't have enough hate."

Sasuke glared up at him then, his sharingan spinning wildly in anger. "Why don't you just go to hell!" he spit and grabbing his katana he swiped at his brother but Itachi was quicker. Jumping away before he could be hit.

Sakura on the other hand, dragged herself closer next to the younger Uchiha's side. He didn't acknowledge her presence and just kept on glaring at his brother. Reaching out, she tried to touch his should softly but he grabbed her writ pain fully before she could and threw it away from him.

"Don't touch me," he told her harshly and using his katana like a cane, he managed to stand up. "Just stay out of my way or' Ill kill you myself."

"You save her then say that," Itachi said. "Make up your mind on whether you want the girl to live or die."

"Shut up!" Sasuke commanded darkly. "It's none of your business of what goes on between her and me. Right now, all that matters is our fight."

He pointed at his brother with the katana as he said his last sentence, looking as menacing as ever but Sakura knew that with his shoulder messed upas it was, he'd be easily defeated and killed. Right now, they needed a miracle if they wanted to escape with their lives and today, luck was on their side because one came.

"Stop right there!" came a loud voice and all three turned to see who it was. Naruto stood there and he wasn't alone. Behind him was Kakashi, Sai, and all of the members of Team Gai. Each of them looked ready for a fight that they were sure was to come. "You're going to pay!" Naruto shouted angrily at the older Uchiha.

Sighing, Itachi closed his eyes before saying, "I'll have to pass today. I've had enough of interruptions for one day." Reopening his eyes, they locked on Sakura. The piercing red of his sharingan unnerving her a bit. "We'll meet again," he told her before his body split into crows and everyone watched them take off and fly away. None was more happier to see them go then Sakura.

Looking back down, she stared at the blonde. "Naruto," she whispered out softly. He looked at her, relief flashing through his eyes from seeing her intact. Sakura clambered to her feet, ingnoring her throbbing ankle and started towards him. "Naruto!" she said, louder this time.

Sasuke grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and dragged her back to his side. "Not so fast," he whispered in her ear. Taking his katana, he held it at her neck threateningly and looked at the blonde and his party. "Take a step forward," he said to them. "And she dies."

* * *

Another cliffie for you guys! It was really hard for me to write since I'm not that great at fight scenes and I wanted Sasuke to kinda save her without it seeming like he's a real hero so it was tough. Did I do a good job? Please tell me when you review and thanks for reading!


	6. What Will Happen To Us?

**Author's Note: **Hi again guys! Here's chapter six. It took me a long time to write this one cause I didn't really know what I wanted to happen in this chapter. I pretty much just sat down and wrote whatever came to me. Hope it's good and thanks to all of the people who've been reviewing!

* * *

**Chapter Six  
What Will Happen To Us**

"Naruto," Sakura whispered out softly.

At the sound of his name, the blonde looked at her, obvious relief flashing through his eyes from seeing her intact.

Slowly, Sakura clambered to her feet, and ignoring her throbbing ankle, she started towards him. "Naruto!" she said again, only louder this time.

Sasuke grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and dragged her back to his side before she could get too far. "Not so fast," he whispered in her ear. Taking his katana, he held it at her neck threateningly and looked at the blonde and his party. "Take a step forward," he said to them. "And she dies."

Sakura looked up over her shoulder at the Uchiha's face glaring while Naruto shouted out outraged, "What the hell are you doing Sasuke?"

"I'm making a deal," Sasuke answered, tightening his grip on his katana. "I'll give her back if you let me go."

It all made sense to Sakura then. Itachi was still out there which meant that Sasuke wasn't going to be dragged back to Konoha. Something that Naruto would surely try to do. He was going to do anything to get to his brother, even if it meant killing her. She looked at Naruto and could see the understanding in his eyes as well.

"Let her go Sasuke! We can work this out differently." Naruto yelled, inching forward slightly.

"You took a step," Sasuke said noticing and Sakura let out a small gasp as she felt the katana dig into her skin, drawing a thin line of blood from her neck.

Naruto stopped approaching to glare, his blue eyes hurt and furious. "Let her go now!" he commanded. "If you don't, I'll make you."

"And how could you do that when you're all the way over there?" Sasuke taunted.

Suddenly, a hand from under Sasuke and Sakura broke through the ground, trying to catch a grip on the Uchiha's foot.

"Shit," he cursed, and he managed to get jump back in time, taking Sakura with him before the hand could grab a hold. The ground broke more until Kakashi crawled out, the one standing behind Naruto disappearing, it being just a clone. Sasuke glared at his old teacher. "You must want her to die," he said, and once again Sakura felt the cool metal slice slightly into her neck.

Sakura was going to die. She knew that he'd kill her if things kept going the way they were. She couldn't stand helpless and wait for Naruto or the others to save her. She could do it on her own, and lifting her foot up, she did as she slammed her foot down on Sasuke's own. She knew it wouldn't be enough to hurt the Uchiha but it was enough to surprise him. His grip loosened slightly on her for only a second but that was all Sakura needed and pushing his arm away, she broke free from him.

Sakura felt Sasuke try to snatch her shirt collar again and because of it, she lost her balance causing her to fall. She landed on the ground with a grunt and after that, so many things happened that it was hard to keep track of it all.

Kakashi had started towards Sasuke, running at him with a weapon drawn. Naruto, Sai, and Team Gai excluding Tenten followed suit. Instead of helping with the fight though, the brunette ran over to Sakura's side.

"You okay?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah," Sakura nodded. "I'm-

She was interrupted by a blasting noise coming from the fight behind them.

"Come on," Tenten said, taking Sakura's arm and wrapping it around her own shoulder. "We need to get you out of the way. Right now, we're just a burden to the guys."

Agreeing, Sakura let Tenten help her to her feet and together, they managed to get away to a safe distance from the fight. Looking over her shoulder to watch, Sakura saw that even though it was one against six, Sasuke was still putting up a strong fight which was impressing considering his wounded shoulder but could she really expect anything less from an Uchiha.

In the end though, his wound was the cause for his fall.

Sai came up behind Sasuke and managed to grab the boy's shoulder to try to restrain him which Sakura knew must've been extremely painful. Sasuke had shown it was too by flinching slightly which then created an opening for Naruto. The blonde ran up, managing to tackle the Uchiha and together, they fell to the ground in a heap. Sasuke's katana landed feet away from his hand. Useless once again to him but this time, Sakura was in no rush to help him get it back.

Sakura continued to watch as the others helped Naruto successfully capture the young Uchiha but she couldn't help but wonder if Sasuke hadn't been weakened before their little scuffle, who would have come out the victor.

- - - - - - - - - -

"You should heal yourself," Sai pointed out to Sakura.

The pink haired girl looked up at him and smiled. Even though the boy could get on her nerves so much sometimes, she hadn't realized how much she'd missed him and the others. She couldn't wait to get back home to Konoha and everyone else.

"I can't yet," she told him, looking away. "Sasuke needs to have the rest of his chakra drained so he can't escape again and his wounds are far more serious than mine so I should attend to him first."

Sai gave her a look that told her he didn't like the idea but let it drop and just nodded. Sakura walked past him and over to where Sasuke was propped against a tree with his hands restrained behind his back. He glared at the sight of her and Sakura could swear that even when he was tied up, he still made her feel like she was inferior to him. Kneeling in front of Sasuke, she reached out to pull at his white shirt to see his wounded shoulder.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his words as sharp as knives.

"You're hurt," Sakura stated, stopping to look into his eyes.

"I don't need your help."

Now it was Sakura's turn to glare at him. "You really don't have a choice in the matter," she told him.

"Do you remember what I said to you back at the prison?" Sasuke asked her.

"You said a lot of things to me then. You'll have to clarify."

"I told you to remember that even behind those bars I could kill you," he reminded her. "That rule also applies to being tied up."

It was another obvious threat on her life but this time Sakura just brushed it off. "You wouldn't dare try anything now," she told him. "Not with so many people around ready to help me so right now, you'll just have to sit there and bear through being healed by me."

"Leave me alone," he ordered. "It's nothing."

Reaching out, Sakura grabbed his arm close to his wound and squeezed hard like Sai had earlier. A slight flash of pain registered in Sasuke's eyes only for a second but she'd seen it. "Does that really feel like nothing?" she asked him.

Sasuke didn't say anything. Just gave her a glare which Sakura chose to ignore. Instead, she pulled down the side of his white shirt, revealing the angry wound that his brother had left in his shoulder. Running her fingers over it, she studied it closely.

"It's bad," she remarked. "But the blow didn't knick any major arteries which is good. You could die if that was the case." Closing her eyes and putting her hands together, she began to summon chakra.

"Why are you even bothering?" she heard Sasuke ask after a short moment of silence and Sakura's eyes flew open to stare at him.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Back in Konoha they'll just kill me," he reminded her. "So why are you even bothering?"

Sakura's mouth opened, but nothing came out. She wasn't sure what to say to that. In the last couple days, she'd forgotten all about his sentence. It was true. If he was coming back to Konoha with them, he'd be going right back to his prison cell where he would probably once again await his execution.

"I…" Sakura trailed off, her voice shaky. "I'm sure that Naruto and Kakashi won't allow that. They'll stop it somehow."

The way she said it though was like she was trying to convince herself more than him and she could tell that Sasuke had heard it too. Quickly, she broke eye contact and focused on summoning chakra again. The moment had turned too awkward for her.

Slowly, Sakura's hands began to blow green with healing chakra and she ran them over Sasuke's shoulder. She saw him clench his jaw and she knew that it probably hurt and he was trying not to show any weakness to her. Together, they continued in silence.

When she was done, Sakura stood up to her full height. "It's going to take a couple more days to heal it since its deep." Sakura explained to him. "Wounds that bad are always like that. We'll continue on healing it tomorrow."

"There is no we," Sasuke informed her dryly.

Usually, Sakura would snap back at something like that but this time she didn't. She didn't have enough strength for it. It had been such a long day and she still had to heal herself. Right now, what she wanted the most was rest which she would get soon. They were staying the night in the small clearing that they had found before continuing on the next day back to Konoha.

Sitting down, Sakura started on her own wounds.

- - - - - - - - - -

Sakura walked down a street of Konoha that on a normal day would have people bustling around and doing daily shopping. Today though, it was empty and quiet. She couldn't see a single soul in sight and in every shop window that lined the way, there was a closed sign sitting there.

It was like Konoha had become a ghost town.

Turning a corner towards the center of the village, Sakura saw people. Tons of people. In fact, it was like everyone who lived in the village was there. Walking up, she joined the edge of the crowd. No one was speaking nor was anyone daring to move.

'What's going on?" Sakura thought, looking around curiously.

It seemed like everyone was waiting for something to happen. Something big.

Up ahead in front of the crowd, Sakura could see a platform set up and that seemed where everyone's attention was focused. No one standing up there though and confused, Sakura turned to an old man.

"What are you all waiting for?" she asked but the man didn't even glance her way much less answer her question. Reaching out, Sakura touched his shoulder lightly. "Excuse m-

She was interrupted by the crowd suddenly coming to life and cheering. Sakura looked back at the platform to see the reason. Someone was being brutally forced up on it by five Anbu guards. The prisoner's hands were bound tightly behind their back and a loose brown bag was covering their face but Sakura could tell that the person was male by their build. Whoever he was, he was putting up quite a fight since the Anbu who were leading him were practically dragging him the whole way.

Following behind them was Tsunade who was looking deeply grave and Sakura wondered what would make the Hokage look so. The prisoner was forced none to gently down onto his knees and one of the men reached for the bag and tore it off the prisoner's head. Black spiky hair spilled out along with a face that Sakura had known and loved for most her life.

It was Sasuke. The person was Sasuke.

"People of Konoha!" Tsunade's voice rang out over the crowd's yelling. "Today, because he is seen as too big a threat to Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke is to be executed."

Everyone in the crowed erupted into louder cheers all except for one person who was dead silent.

Sakura. She stood there shocked and confused.

To her right, the old man that she had tried to speak to earlier shouted out, "Kill the traitor!"

More people joined along with him until almost everyone was chanting those three words like a sick song. Up on the platform, Sakura watched as Sasuke's dark eyes searched the crowd, instantly locking on her form.

"The execution will begin now!" Tsunade yelled.

"No," Sakura whispered out softly and she started pushing people out of her way to get to the Uchiha as fast as she could. "Sasuke!" she screamed.

She wasn't going to make it. The sword was already being placed at his neck and there were still too many people between her and him.

"Sasuke!"

People in the crowd were stopping her now. Holding her back from reaching him and flailing, she tried to free herself from their grip. It was no use though. The sword was already being brought back for the final blow. The whole time, not once had Sasuke broken eye contact with her and now, he gave her a small smirk as if accepting his fate before the weapon came down.

"No!" Sakura screamed, waking from her dream. Hot tears were streaming down her face and her hands hurt since she'd been clawing at the ground.

"Hey," Tenten said, touching her arm lightly. "Are you…are you okay?"

Sakura looked up at the brunette hard.

Was she real? Where was the crowd? Where was Konoha? Had it all just been a dream? It had all seemed so real to Sakura yet there she was, sitting in the forest on her way back to Konoha.

"Sakura?" It was Naruto now who was pretty much shaking her. Trying to get her to respond.

Behind the blonde, Sakura could see everyone's concerned faces, wondering if she'd finally lost it. She ignored all of them and looked towards Sasuke. He was sitting in the same spot as before with his hands still restrained behind his back. His eyes were focused right on her but she could see that there was no concern in them. Just a hint of curiosity and boredom.

Feeling uncomfortable, Sakura broke their small contact.

"I'm fine," she whispered out to everyone. "Just a bad dream."

* * *

No cliffie this time! This is the longest chapter so far! Thanks for reading and please review!

OMG! I think I listened to that song Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have by Panic At The Disco like fifty times while I wrote this. Now I got it stuck in my head. Hehe!


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